Modding a Hello Kitty Strat

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James
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Modding a Hello Kitty Strat

Post by James »

I recently bought the missus one of the pink HK strats with the cool pickguard, like this one...

Image

She was half-joking before about buying one to play a mixture of girlie-twee and full on metal on. I realise it's quite an obvious thing to do with one but having got the guitar I could see it suiting both quite well. As it stands all I've done is give it a rough set up and change the knob for a white mustang one (courtesy of rodvondon). I have some white button Klusons on the way (with the conversion bushing as I checked and they're 10mm holes) and once I have those I'll put some heavy strings on it and give it a better set up.

Here's a quick couple of images showing the date stamps (Jan '06 on the body and Feb '06 on the neck) and one showing the changed knob. Note the tan line on the neck. It's yellowed a fair bit for its age. The body colour has mellowed a decent amount too.
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As mentioned in the effects forum I want to a buy a humbucker. I didn't state before that it was for this as it's a surprise present, but I don't think she reads the forum at all anymore so I figure it's ok to post.

I'm seriously considering buying a Bare Knuckle Nailbomb, but at £110 shipped it's more than I paid for the entire guitar. One problem I have is that it while it definitely needs a good pickup, it needs to be white to go with the look, and preferably F Spaced (though that's not a big deal). Short legs are also preferable as it's mounted directly the body jazzmaster style. Finding something that's good and white is a bit of a nightmare as the vast majority are cream (to suit the Gibson crowd), and that's before thinking about the leg length. Any suggestions there? Just go with the bare knuckle? Haze was suggesting the P Rails but main thing that puts me off is I have limited switching options. I don't think it will get the full on metal sound I want but even if it could and I get one I'd want to be able to change through the options.

One of the frets seems a tiny bit high on the high e and b side. It looks slightly badly seated. Not bad enough that it's sharp or anything, just seated a little high almost as though it is just a large gauge of fret wire. There's plenty of height there to bring it down a bit but what can I use to do that with? Ordinary emery cloth and plenty of 'sand once check twice' attitude?

I have to admit apart from a few details like the high fret and a gap between the pickguard and bridge I'm very impressed with the guitar on the whole. Apart from the non-glossy neck it feels quite a lot like a CV in quality. Probably the only other thing I can think of that is off is that the pickguard screws aren't all screwed in straight but I can fix that.

Any other suggestions for how to make this quite good guitar into a great one, keeping the look as simple as possible?
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cobascis
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Post by cobascis »

How are the tuners? Other than the pickup as you mentioned, I can only think of the tuners/the bridge being the variable that will be a problem. You could block off the trem for stability.
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Post by ekwatts »

He's already changing the tuners and the bridge is already a hardtail.

Looks good. I always wanted one to stick a three-P90 loaded scratchplate on.
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Post by AaronGuitarDude »

nice mods
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Post by Dave »

I think you can ask Alan at Catswhisker pickups to do a white super heavy pickup for less than the bareknuckle - stock price is £52. If you tell him what you're after he's really good at coming up with the goods (he was for me anyway!)

Pretty sure he'd do a white "Dethbucker" 18.8k Ceramic 8 with correct sized legs!

As to the frets issue I think you're on the right track - doubt a fret leveling or anything major is really needed. Just work on the one fret a little at the time and keep checking by fretting the string behind it until buzzes go away. You MAY geta good result by getting some sort of radius correct bit of wood and then drop some tiny bits of glue in the gap under the fret and then clamping it for a while. I presume its lifting only at the edges? Maybe just glue and clamp either end.
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James
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Post by James »

Dave wrote:I think you can ask Alan at Catswhisker pickups to do a white super heavy pickup for less than the bareknuckle - stock price is £52. If you tell him what you're after he's really good at coming up with the goods (he was for me anyway!)

Pretty sure he'd do a white "Dethbucker" 18.8k Ceramic 8 with correct sized legs!
I realise it's half the price but once it gets to £50 for something that's a relative unknown in terms of how well it's going to suit I'm more tempted to just spend the extra and get the bare knuckle (which I know is also something of an unknown but the reviews are glowing and I've heard a couple of their pickups).

It's definitely worth me sending an email and asking about though. Which model do you have?

I wonder if he can make a dethbucker style humbucker with the standard look rather than the ugly pole pieces.

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Post by Gabriel »

How about a G & B Tobasco

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Its near the bottom of the page I linked to. For £20 you can't really go wrong, and I'd say its not really worth spending so much on a guitar that costs so little.
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Post by Viljami »

I wouldn't worry about "putting too expensive a pup in an inexpensive guitar" since you can take it out and sell it for almost what you paid for it originally. Or hang on to it.
What about an di Marzio Super Distortion? It's a classic, hey hey! A friend of mine put an double red Lace in his Jag and it definitely has teh metalz and some extra thrown in too.
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Post by hotrodperlmutter »

james -

i have a white duncan invader that would be awesome for this. i'll make you a great deal.
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Post by Thom »

I have refrained from posting in your other thread as you had originally said that Bare Knuckle were a bit more than you were hoping to spend. However, now that it seems to be back on the cards I will chime in! Have tried out quite a few BK pups and love them without exception. Have got a Nailbomb in my Les Paul and it sounds amazing. It's quite an agressive pickup, but I guess that's what you're looking for. If it were me right now I'd put a BK Aftermath in it, but that's quite a lot to do with me just wanting to try one out - the description on the website is based on its development being primarily for drop tuned metal, but have read that it sounds great in it's own right for a range of styles. I've got a Miracle Man in my Jag-Stang, which to be honest I prefer to the Nailbomb, but I think that that is due to me edging towards prefering ceramic pups in general. I've also wanted to try a Ceramic Nailbomb as that might beat the Miracle Man and Alnico NB for my tastes.
As always, if going down the BK route my recommendation would be to email them to see what they would recommend. Tim often recommends the Nailbomb for its versatility - I think it's one of their top 3 selling pickups.
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Post by Viljami »

A friend of mine has a Nailbomb in his Squier Venus, and it truly is an amazing pup.
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Post by Supersonicman »

If you can, do an robroe cover, make Hello Kitty's face whole
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Post by Lucamo »

Supersonicman wrote:If you can, do an robroe cover, make Hello Kitty's face whole
Exactly what I was gonna suggest. I love hello kitty Strats
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Post by Dave »

James wrote:
Dave wrote:I think you can ask Alan at Catswhisker pickups to do a white super heavy pickup for less than the bareknuckle - stock price is £52. If you tell him what you're after he's really good at coming up with the goods (he was for me anyway!)

Pretty sure he'd do a white "Dethbucker" 18.8k Ceramic 8 with correct sized legs!
I realise it's half the price but once it gets to £50 for something that's a relative unknown in terms of how well it's going to suit I'm more tempted to just spend the extra and get the bare knuckle (which I know is also something of an unknown but the reviews are glowing and I've heard a couple of their pickups).

It's definitely worth me sending an email and asking about though. Which model do you have?

I wonder if he can make a dethbucker style humbucker with the standard look rather than the ugly pole pieces.

Image
I've got the T-Bucker and a custom made T-bucker to fit a neck Tele route. Good workmanship and feel meaty compared to most other pups. I know he's done re-winding for timhulio in the past too. I'm damn sure he could do a dethbucker in a more conventional look.
iCEByTes wrote:5 Most Jizz face maker Solo�s , classic Rock music i ever listened.
iCEByTes wrote:Blunt a joint , Take the Touch , Listen this.
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Post by James »

Lucamo wrote:
Supersonicman wrote:If you can, do an robroe cover, make Hello Kitty's face whole
Exactly what I was gonna suggest. I love hello kitty Strats
When I wanted one previously I was actually going to do this, and already have a white robroe cover for it. The missus can't stand robroe covers though, and to fit it I'd have to square off the pickup hole in the pickguard.

I was considering a rail pickup as it will look a little cleaner than regular pole pieces but I haven't been able to find one I think will be worth getting.
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Post by James »

Still a bit unsure about the pickup. I installed a JB I have, but with the long legs it's right under the strings and you can hear the magnet kill the sustain, or if you strum hard enough the strings hit the pickup. I have other plans for the pickup, so I won't bother making the route any deeper and will just wait to sort something else.

I did change the tuners though. I did it a couple of weeks ago but John (deadonkey) was staying at the time and I never got round to uploading the pics. It's an unfair comparison as it was previously strung with 9s (maybe even 8s, it was ridiculous anyway) and would barely hold tune. I just much prefer restringing with Klusons and I think these look better. The Klusons almost certainly are more stable but I imagine the original Squier ones are passable.
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Post by Dave »

That looks great! White button Klusons and Jag knob set it off a treat
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iCEByTes wrote:Blunt a joint , Take the Touch , Listen this.
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Post by robroe »

all guitars should have white slot heads